Automatic screen-cleaner.



E. s. BENNETT'. AUTOMATIC SCREEN CLEANER. LPPLIOATION FILED PEB. 27,1908.

906,995. y IPatented Dec.15,19os.

' man :79rd @ft/f W EMM J Fen ffm 'l Inde/zwi' ERASTUS S. BENNETT, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC SCREEN-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

Application led February 27, 1906. Serial No. 303,262.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERAsTUs S. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Automatic Screen-Cleaners, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mining machinery, though it isnot limited in its application to this particular art.

It concerns more articularly improvements in separators or use inconnection with amalgamating tanks, such for instance as is disclosed inLetters Patent of the United States, granted to me Mar. 13, 1894, No.516624. In said patent I disclose an amalgamating tank having at or nearone end a rotary separator of cylindrical form for separating thematerial from the stones, boulders, etc. In a separator of thischaracter, which is constructed in the form of a grating having bars orwires extending circumferentially and held by grate frames, the spacesbetween the bars in the operation of the machine become clogged withsmall stones, pebbles, and the like which become wedged in place betweenthe said wires. or grating bars, and it is the obj ect of my inventionto provide means for automatically keeping the meshes or spaces of thegrate free from such obstructions as would tend to interfere with theproper operation of the separator.

The invention consists in the features and combination and arrangementof arts hereinafter described and particular y pointed out in theclaims.

In the accom anying drawing,-Figure 1 is a side view of) the separatorwith the improvement arranged in roper relation thereto. Fig. 2 is aplan view of a portion of a separator with my improvement in place. Fig.3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detailedview of one form of clearer device constituting my improvement. Fig. 5is a detail view of one of the lifting blocks for the clearer device.

In these drawings, 1 indicates a rotary separator of any suitablegeneral construction which is located at one end of an amalgamating tankindicated in the outline at 2, the said separator being designed toremove large stones and other material and prevent the same fromreaching the amalgamating tank. As shown in Fig. 2, this rotaryseparator is made up of heads, one of which is indicated at 3 carryinggrate frames 4, which in turn carry the grate bars or wires 5 ar rangedparallel with each other and at a distance apart suitable to provide theproper mesh or space for the passage of the material of the desiredsize, these spaces being indicated at 6. In the operation of the machinethese spaces between the wires or grate bars become clogged withmaterial of various sorts, and in order to constantly clear thesespaces, I provide a clearer device consisting of a roller 7 having ribsor flanges 8 presenting edges 9, which enter the spaces between thewires or grate bars and clear out any obstructions, such as stone whichmay become wedged therein. The roller shaft 10 is journaled at 11 in anysuitable part of the frame work and it may have a slight yielding actionvertically in the said frame for which purpose its bearings may beyieldingly held by springs, such as shown at 11 in Fig. 1, the saidsprings bearing upon the sliding blocks orbearing 12 of the roller.

In order to allow the roller or clearer device to pass the cross bars 4of the frame without damage thereto, I providelifting blocks 13 havinginclined surfaces 14 on their outer sides up which the rollers may pass,and thus be carried over the cross bars without coming in contacttherewith. These lifting blocks are supported directly on the Wires orgrate bars each block straddling two of the wires and having a nger orportion 15 reaching down` between the two wires on which the block issup orted and extending under the lower edge o the cross bar, asindicated in Fig. 5. The lifting block is further secured in place byits sides 16 reaching down the outer sides of the grate bars andinwardly to conform to the curved surface thereof. The surfaces of thelifting blocks upon which the roller moves to be .lifted thereby isflared as shown in Fig. 2 to render the action more certain.

I show in Fig. 4 a detailed view of one of the clearer rollers, thisconsisting of a cylindricalbody portion 18 having the heads 19 screwedthereon and provided with a journal 20. The cylinder 18 carries a seriesof rings 21, the surfaces of which are beveled to enter between thegrate bars, as above described.

I do not wish to limit myself to the particular form of clearer, asother means may be used besides a roller and different forms of rollersmay be employed.

The lifting blocks may be in the form of rollers, such for instance asindicatedlat 143,

and over these the clearers may pass to be lifted thereby.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination With a rotary separator, comprising grate bars orWires and the cross bars, a lifter consisting of a block having portionsengaging the Wiresor bars and a portion extending beneath the cross bar,substantially as described.

2. In combination al rotary separator comprising Wires extendingperipherally and circumferentially ofthe same, a clearer device andmeans for raising the said clearer device eonsistingof inclines eachheld on a pair of 15 the Wires by having its sides extending down andbent inwardly a ainst the said Wires, substantially as descri ed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

ERASTUS S. BENNETT. Witnesses:

M. L. JUSTIN, CLINTON D. GANsE.

